A form of renewable energy that's usually wasted will soon be powering homes in Western Kansas.

In a few months, the city of Ulysses will get a new machine called a gasifier. It will be used to turn cow manure into electricity. Each unit is small enough to fit on a semi-truck, but is capable of producing enough energy to power 1,500 homes.

"Each cow produces about 8 pounds of manure per day," says Gene Pflughoft, Grant County Economic Development Director. "They can take that dry manure, gasify it, turn it into a gas, and then run that into a generator and generate electricity."

The new technology has the capability to reshape energy in Western Kansas since the area has several hundred feed lots.